Small Bites
July 27, 2022
Making a difference by creating opportunities to promote & sell more VT products to more buyers in the northeast & beyond
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Vermont Summers:
Picnic
Picnic is in its name; perfect for summer sales of Vermont-made Picnic Provisions sausage. Crafted from VT raised animals, processed at the Vermont Food Collaborative conveniently located on Route 7 in New Haven. The products are delivered fresh or frozen direct to stores on distinct routes. (Matt may be open to local distribution options!) Consider the food service package for upping your ins-store breakfast sandwiches. Woodstock Farmers Market sells the sausage in display containers that are easy to shop, clean, rotate & stock.
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Riding Summer Sales
Our bicycle rail & off trail routes keep getting better every year. This provides great opportunities for stores close to terminal parking areas or along the routes to feature VT products.
Morrisville Coop has loads of Vermont adventure snacks (think Garuka Bars & fresh fruit) for riders to ramp up their provisions. Alternatively, riders can take a well-deserved break from the Lamoille Trail to enjoy a full lunch from the store’s cafe.
Mach's Market in Pawlett, near the D & H Rail Trail, has absolutely everything for fun loving adventuring & chilling-out folks. Options include a full lunch, cool VT beverages or some our state's best & award winning cheese. Everything for grab & go picnics are available from their kitchen or select from a full line of provisions from local & regional producers.
Between our great stores & our wonderful recreation options, staytrippers & travelers are linked to our local economy through our food & beverages.
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in Lyndonville was recently featured in Seven Days highlighting the beauty of our state's workforce development & business succession changes. Libbey's has been owned by Jim Libbey who has also taught culinary arts at Lyndon Institute. When retirement beckoned, it was a former trainee that reached out to take over the butchering & retool the retail business.
"Since buying the shop from namesake Jim Libbey in late 2019, Hunter, 31, who owns it with Tabitha Bowling, has retained the best aspects of the previous owner's business model and added his own flair. He's brought in produce, dairy and other grocery items and amped up prepared meals, which were especially popular during the height of the pandemic." -from 7 Days
Along with the freshly butchered meat fresh locally made & Slow Food Certified Trencher Farm pastas & sauces are sold along with other products delivered direct to the store from area producers.
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VT Wins Big:
National Cheese Competition
Once again, our cheese producers are winners at the American Cheese Society’s competition! Vermont took home a WHOPPING 38 individual awards in 100 different competition categories. First & third place Best of Show went to Jasper Hill Farm.
Vermont cheeses won 11 first, twelve second, & fifteen third place positions.
Congratulations to Vermont’s winners & to all our cheesemakers who competed but did not take home the glory- we love you too!
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Speaking of Summer Sales ...
We just have to re-share this 2021 display from the Lincoln General Store! Local photographer Beth Duquette shared this picture. We encourage other stores to add this canned wine (or other canned beverages) to create summer merchandising theater. Any store near our classic swimming holes might want to replicate it to reduce glass near bare feet.
Other merchandising for our summer swimming holes includes bevies that fit the non-alcohol trend that has been booming since the pandemic began 2020. Mocktails, alcohol-free ciders, sodas, maple beverages are big for health conscious, young families & those reducing their intake of alcohol.
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Cows Like Corn, So Do We!
Cabot Seriously Sharp Popcorn is a summer hit at stores across the state. It is a staff favorite at Healthy Living. It is yet another way to support our dairy farmers & as the sign says..."Great New Things to Love!" We 100% agree with the HL merch team on that!
Speaking of Healthy Living, we missed this announcement but as one of the first retailers to sign on to the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership, they encourage shoppers to purchase one-quarter of their dairy items every week from participating brands. It’s one more way we are supporting others who are working to make our local food culture, economy, & landscape better for everyone. They have signs placed at products or find the entire list of brands at saveorganicfamilyfarms.org
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Producer to Keep Your Eyes On
Every town in Italy has a local shop that sells specialty foods & prepared dishes, called a Gastronomia. Trenchers Farmhouse is the Gastronomia of Vermont, creating artisan farm to table pastas & sauces highlighting seasonal delights fresh from their farm. Their regenerative farm system focuses on heirloom Italian varietals, along with pasture raised eggs & animals.
Selling at farmstands & shipping DSD to stores in distinct routes they make their products available to farmstands, CSA & stores. Some of their service areas include Burlington, sections of route 7 & Route 4, Route 91 & Morrisville, Stowe & Waterbury.
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Defining the Difference
Co-packing is the outsourcing of your product’s manufacturing & packaging to a third-party specialist. By working closely with you, they take your creation & scale the production process to make it available to a wider number of outlets. The co-packer distributes your recipe under your name. Some co-packers help with packaging design.
Private label is also a fulfillment entity. But the difference is "ownership". A private label manufacturer will distribute their product under your name. A private label is perhaps better suited for a company looking to create brand recognition to bump sales but lack the recipe or ability to develop one effectively. A private label works with store brands creating a formula. They assist in developing the product, branding, & packaging.
A co-packer distributes your recipe under your name, a private label will distribute their product under your name. One key difference is that there is no promise of exclusivity with private labeling. The private label owns the recipe or formula, which means they can do with it as they please. The co-packer generally works to elevate products for distribution.
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Store Branded Products
For the Win
Private label & co-packing of consumer products can drive sales & expand your store's brand. Creating the line, finding the co-packer or manufacturer, working with a marketing company are all part of the process.
Some stores even introduce "short-run" products that engage the shopper with “seasonal must-haves”. These SKU's receive prominent display space, make premium social media content & are less capital intensive as one is building the private label aspect of the business.
For Healthy Living, their cold brew private label coffee is a limited run. They teamed up with Kru Coffee Collective for the organic Guatemalan Colombian blend & made using Kru's patent-pending Brubender Extraction Technology which achieves ideal extraction through the use of force & speed. Their proprietary "cold only" process goes from bean to cold brew in under one hour. With optimal merchandising, the cold item is a hot seller as temperatures rise.
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A reminder that stores can highlight Real Organic Farms through signage, online promos & direct actions with farms such as through VFN Open Farm Week. This helps shopper recognize your commitment to local, organic family farms.
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Did You Ever Wonder?
Cross Docking
VT food producers are utilizing more cross docking opportunities to shorten lead times for delivery, create efficiencies that reduce handling at distribution centers, obtain reduced carrying costs & less overall handling of products which creates a lower COGS. In short, cross-docking greatly reduces the amount of handling products receive during transportation, minimizing the risk of mishandling & mislabeling while increasing distribution ranges.
Food hubs, farms, & distributors are working more closely to facilitate cross docking. Inventory moves swiftly through the system without the slotting in a warehouse. At cross-docking locations, products are sorted & staged for multiple carriers based on the shipment’s destination. It may be that a local food manufacturer's products are dropped at a farm loading dock for a local distributor to pick up- all this occurring on the same day so products are not handled or in need of management beyond the "quick pick up". The cross docking expands distribution options for our food manufacturers as a part of logistics expanding sales to within the state & to the northeast region.
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Looking for Vermont products?
These are a few of our local distributors shipping & crossdocking to help expand markets for our merging & established producers.
Stores, farmstands & farm CSA's have more access to our products. Check
them out, each has its own routes, purchasing parameters, ordering systems & minimums, & accounts payable schedules. Please note this is not a complete list.
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It's busy! Farm markets at PYO operations are working hard to keep displays stocked. All berries are flying in every corner of the state & having pre-picked front & center makes for quick sales. |
Supplying Stores & Farmstands
Old Athens Farm in Westminster has been growing organic produce for wholesale since 1989 & sold locally. With a specialty in early season greenhouse crops, they have a well-earned reputation for early & super flavorful cucumbers & tomatoes. They have built a strong & loyal customer base selling direct to consumer at the Londonderry & Brattleboro Farmers Markets & have a vibrant wholesale business selling to area independent stores & coops. They are at the peak of their season with loads of produce available.
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Thanks to Small Bites & making relationships across the supply chain our readers are benefitting from expanded onboarding new products by local & regional distributors. Here is a short list of products we heard about directly from suppliers. If you already buy from them look for these newly stocked products.
Associated Buyers of NH
Pumpkin Village Foods
Stony Pond Farm Big Jay Cheese; Exclusive through Pumpkin Village Foods & other cheese updates too
Savouré Apricot Saffron Sumac is back! The high-demand specialty soda is only produced in limited quantities
"We will be cross docking with them" product availability should be up on items that are not normally stocked - such as Ghee, yogurt pints, & gelato
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Select SKU’s of Foster Botanicals products are available through Associated Buyers & shipped direct to stores. Grab their fabulous teas & herbs sold wholesale to stores, farmstands, & CSAs. Nothing beats refreshing iced tea on hot summer days. Serve up in your cafe or treat your staff on these hot days.
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Attention All Food Manufacturers!
This is an opportunity for VT food makers & farmers using locally sourced food to gain visibility as you develop your regional footprint. Vermont food makers are invited to be a vendor; with over 40,000 guests this can grow your brand visibility & customer base
It takes place on Rose Kennedy Greenway, a highly visited part of the city. It is a way for vendors to connect with new or prospective customers directly. As New England's largest free one-day farmer's market, SBN's annual Boston Local Food Festival is hailed as one of the top 10 food events in Boston since 2010. Registration ends August 18th
Sign-up now:
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Farmstand Hit Parade
The hits just keep coming this week. Sun, rain, & heat have all blasted so many crops into full harvest mode.
We have amazing raspberries & blueberries. Corn is here at several farms. It is getting time to lock your doors because zucchinis are going nuts (& you may find some dropped off at your house!). It is high summer for produce & that means it is high sales time for complimentary products.
When it is hot, fresh easy meals are where we lean. "Gazpacho displays" are a must as are Caprese Salads with tomatoes, herbs, & Maplebrook Mozzarella. Other ideas are cucumber salads or tabouli salad with loads of parsley, tomatoes, garlic & green onions. Creating special displays helps sell produce at farmstands. Cross-promote with the products you bring in from your vendors.
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Pauline is outstanding in her field!
Golden Russet Farm in Shoreham is having a banner year. Despite some dry conditions, the potatoes are going crazy growing to the sky. OK at least to Pauline's waist! For this 6th generation Vermonter, harvest has started & potatoes now stock their farmstand. YAY for perfect early fresh, flavorful summer potatoes.
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Located on a gorgeous hill overlooking the Mad River Valley are loads of blueberry bushes ripe for picking. Besides the amazing view, the farm hosts travelers & events to build a socially-just community by creating a refuge celebrating food, the environment & the arts.
The farm store has provisions from local producers & curated picnic baskets to enjoy post-swim or post-hike relaxing. The farm is a popular destination in the summer where the Icelandic sheep graze above the valley & the blueberries get bigger every day until they are picked clean. Knoll Farm sells the blueberries to area stores & restaurants too.
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Leaping Bear Farm
Regenerative agriculture is the backbone of LBF. This translates directly in how land is managed to create products of integrity. Their primary products sold DSD or through their CSA & at farmers markets include
Their ethos includes valuing community & doing what they can to effect the change they wish to see in the world. A small-scale & diverse farm is a way for them to create resiliency within our communities & for the planet.
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Mapping Out Sales
With Vermont full of travelers & staytrippers the Putney
General Store in the heart of town is busy with summer folks. Since our state has its share of no-cell zones & because a rogue box of VT tourist maps was found, the store placed the maps front & center for easy grab & go. For those on the road, the store's deli is one of the best places to pick up all things picnic for summer meals. The crew continues to serve the
local & transient population with great Vermont products.
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Attention
Cheese Buyers!
The Vermont Cheese Council is hosting a food-industry Vermont Cheese Summit on Aug 13-14 for cheese buyers & industry personnel. Saturday Aug 13 there are farm & production facility small group tours of VT cheesemakers. Sunday will be an educational day & sampling at Shelburne Farms featuring production teams from across Vermont. Don't delay! Sign up now space is limited.
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Dan & Whit's in Norwich Center is a major stop on the Appalachian Trail. Through-hikers shop for fresh provisions from a full slate of local & national products to help replenish their food (& nice smelling health & beauty VT farm-made herbal products too!)
The store is well known by adventurers hiking from Georgia to Maine as a MUST STOP for an honest to goodness general store.
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Small Bites comes to you via USDA & High Meadows grants. Content is created for farmers, food manufacturers, distributors, grocers to increase VT food sales
Contact: Annie H Harlow
smallbites802@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, photo credits are from company social media, websites or Annie Harlow
Photo Credits: Libbey's Meat Market Suzanne Podhaizer for Seven Days
Lincoln General Store wine display Beth Duquette
All info is subject to change; thank you to all who contributed to this issue!
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